EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $14.07 and last traded at $13.96, with a volume of 1094366 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.41.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on EZPW shares. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $13.50 target price on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of EZCORP from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th.

EZCORP Trading Up 4.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.91 and a quick ratio of 1.99. The stock has a market cap of $760.40 million, a P/E ratio of 12.14 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $12.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.78.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The credit services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.07. EZCORP had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 7.25%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at EZCORP

In other news, insider Sunil Sajnani sold 34,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.42, for a total transaction of $428,403.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 66,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $822,725.64. This represents a 34.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CRO Nicole Swies sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.47, for a total value of $124,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 101,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,269,608.11. This represents a 8.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EZCORP

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in EZCORP by 97.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,156 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of EZCORP in the third quarter worth about $106,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of EZCORP in the 4th quarter valued at about $122,000. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its holdings in EZCORP by 640.0% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 11,100 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 9,600 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR bought a new position in EZCORP during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $138,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

About EZCORP

EZCORP, Inc provides pawn services in the United States and Latin America. The company operates through three segments: U.S. Pawn, Latin America Pawn, and Other Investments. The company offers pawn loans collateralized by tangible personal property, jewelry, consumer electronics, tools, sporting goods, and musical instruments.